TRAINING TOPIC
HEALTH

POSTERS

CURRENT DISPLAYS

Bubble Wrap Shielding
The easiest initial habitat on Mars would be for the crew to remain within their lander where life support, sanitation, bedding, and the kitchen already exists. But, a long-term problem would be the relative lack of radiation shielding.
A reasonable solution would be to somehow carfully tilt the Starship over onto the ground and then cover it with dirt. But alternately, the lander could remain upright and a rover with magnetic wheels could pull a plastic cover over the top of the Starship nosecone. It would be a thin plastic covering with internal pouches which could be filled with water to provide good radiation shielding. Undoubtedly the landing location will be selected where there is an ocean-sized glacier just below the dirt. That ice could be accessed, melted, and then pumped up a tube to fill the water jacket around the living quarters.

Dome Hole Shielding
What is an easy way to provide habitat shielding on the Moon and Mars?

We have constructed this simple illustration to show how it can be done. Imagine an inflatable habitat with two layers, an inner and outer layer. And then imagine that the outer layer has a hole at the top which is kept suspended above the lower layer by something like a spring.

Now, there is a hole into which dirt could be poured which will fill up the space between the two layers. We imagine a sort of conveyor belt which is common in the mining industry. A robot would scoop up dirt onto the conveyor belt machine which would then carry the dirt up and then drop it in through the hole.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Radiation
Shielding
Psychology
Dust Mitigation
Earth Return Criteria
Return Criteria Paper
Meeting Medical Needs

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